U.S. Open: Can an international golfer win for the third straight year?
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published daily that focuses on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Jim Furyk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The final round of the 118th U.S. Open tees off today at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. American Jim Furyk and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell go into the final round tied for the lead at one-under-par.
Here’s a couple of stats to whet your appetite for today’s final round.
* First, can you answer this trivia question? What three countries have placed the most golfers in the top 10 of the U.S. Open in the last 25 years? You’re probably pretty sure you know one of the three countries, but if you can correctly name the countries that ranked second and third, you’ve aced the test.
The answer: The United States, England and South Africa.
Of the 12 players who currently make up the Top 10 (and ties) after the third round, there are seven Americans and five international players. The international contingent has won the last two U.S. Opens and six of the last eight. In this century, there have been only three Americans that have won this tournament: Tiger Woods (twice), Jim Furyk and Lucas Glover.
Following are the countries that have placed the most golfers in the top 10 of the U.S. Open in the last 25 tournaments.
United States: 69
England: 11
South Africa: 9
Australia: 7
Canada: 7
Spain: 6
Sweden: 6
Note: In the last five (2007-2011) U.S. Opens, the U.S. has placed 29 golfers in the top 10, followed by England with six and Sweden with five.
* Finally, in looking at the last 25 U.S. Opens, in how many of those tournaments has the eventual winner been in the lead or tied for the lead after the third round? The answer: 48 percent. In 10 of the last 25 tourneys, the eventual champion led after three rounds, and in two tourneys the winner was tied for the lead going in to the final round.
Following are the scenarios of each winner in the past 25 U.S. Opens:
Winner was the leader after the third round: 10
Winner was tied for the lead after the third round: 2
Winner was one shot back after the third round: 5
Winner was two shots back after the third round: 1
Winner was three shots back after the third round: 3
Winner was four shots back after the third round: 3
Winner was five or more shots back after the third round: 1
Note: No golfer has come from more than five shots back on the final day to win the U.S. Open since 1987. The largest third round deficit was in 1998 when Lee Janzen came from five shots back after the third round to beat Payne Stewart by one stroke for his second title.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
SIX STATS you might not know about… University of Wisconsin football team
Image via Wikipedia
SIX STATS… is a bonus feature of Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’
1. The Badgers football team has never won 10 or more games three seasons in a row. They won 11 in 2010; 10 in 2009.
2. Three Wisconsin coaches have won a bowl game with the Badgers: Barry Alvarez won eight bowl games; Bret Bielema has won two; Dave McClain won one.
3. The last losing season for the Badgers was in 2001 when they went 5-7. Their longest streak of losing seasons was 10 from 1964-73.
4. Their current streak of nine straight winning seasons is not a record. The school had 18 straight winning seasons from 1892-1909.
5. Bret Bielema has started his career as head coach with five straight winning seasons. Three other head coaches had winning seasons in their first six seasons (or more). Phil King had eight straight winning seasons to start his coaching career at Wisconsin from 1896-1905. Two other coaches had six straight winning seasons to start their Wisconsin head coaching careers… JR Richards (1919-24) and Ivy Williamson (1949-54).
6. The highest the Badgers have been ranked in a preseason AP poll was #4 in 2000. The highest the team has been ranked in the AP poll at the end of a season is #2 after the 1962 campaign.
British Open nuggets
Image by Pet_r via Flickr
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a biweekly blog published every Wednesday and Sunday
The 140th British Open begins play tomorrow at Royal St. George’s in Kent, England. Here’s a couple of stats to whet your appetite for this weekend’s play.
First, can you answer this trivia question? What two countries have placed one or more golfers in the top 10 of the British Open in each of the last 10 years? You’re probably pretty sure you know one of the two, but if you can correctly name both countries, you’ve aced the test.
The answer: The U.S. and South Africa. Following are the countries that have placed the most golfers in the top 10 of the British Open in the last ten tournaments.
United States………. 31
South Africa………. 16
England………. 15
Sweden………. 8
Austrailia………. 8
Spain………. 8
Denmark………. 4
Note: In the last three British Opens, England has placed 10 golfers in the top 10, most in that timeframe, followed by the U.S. with nine and South Africa with six.
Finally, in looking at the last 25 British Opens, in how many of those tournaments has the eventual winner been in the lead or tied for the lead after the third round? The answer: 48 percent. In 10 of the last 25 tourneys, the winner led after three rounds and in two tourneys the winner was tied for the lead going in to the final round.
Following are the scenarios of each winner in the past 25 British Opens:
Winner was the leader after the third round: 10
Winner was tied for the lead after the third round: 2
Winner was one shot back after the third round: 3
Winner was two shots back after the third round: 4
Winner was three shots back after the third round: 2
Winner was four shots back after the third round: 1
Winner was five or more shots back after the third round: 3
Sports Stats 'on Tapp' 